Frequency is the thing. If you fly once a week, you are 90% "rusty" by the next lesson and have to re-learn things you had almost mastered last week. Most of all, this is not a race, take the time to be safe.

I started my training at age 15 and spread it out over pretty much 3 years. I ended up getting my private with 90 hours. It really is just a matter of how often you fly. Don't sweat it and just have fun learning.

I performed my first solo flight after 13 hours (as it was the policy of my school) then after passing axams of ppl, the check ride was at ride 41.for ppl it took about 9 months (all of the courses and flights but flights lasted about 2 months). in my country when i was studying the minimum time of flying experience for ppl was 40 hours and for cpl was 140 hours and 20 hours for instrument rating. (now it has increased).

Now as a flight school owner, I've learned a LOT about averages. The above posts are very correct, there are many variables. The claimed national average is up to around 75, but we see an average of 50 at our school. We have both towered & non-towered fields in the school, and the non-tower students average about 5 hours less, but the tower students are also better on the radio. My own students range from 40 to 60 hours.

Frequency does matter. I solo'd at 12. Signed off for the checkride at 68. I went 3-4 weeks without flying sometimes. Some flights I would spend 1/2 the time just flying around instead of practicing (got bored with the manuevers). I try to fly once a week but I hold down a family and a full-time job so it took me about a year of training. I figured there's no real 'end' to this since you never stop learning/training. Might as well take my time and not focus on hours. Instrument training is next on the list.

Frequency and type of training are key for the time it takes. If you take lessons privately, you most likely are flying based on your personal schedule, meaning once a week or less. Another factor with private lessons is that people frequently run out of money to spend on lessons and have to take a break for a month or more to regenerate the funds to fly. Both infrequent lessons and breaks for money lead to your skills fading and requires lots of extra time to get the feel for the plane back. I'm flying at a Part 141 college and I fly up to 3 times a week given that the weather is good.

Solo in 12.5 hrsPrivate Checkride in 40.7 hrsPrivate Training day 1 to checkride - 6 months to the day

I had hoped to get my Private in 4-5 months, but my work schedule, weather (this is a big one!), CFI scheduling conflicts, etc. dragged it out to 9 months. Tried to fly at least twice per week during training, but typically only got in an hour or so per week. And at some point during your training, you'll feel like you've hit a plateau or regressed in some area. For me, it was crosswind landings, right before I was set to take my checkride. I swear, it got to where I didn't want to go up if there was a 10kt+ wind blowing. The week leading up to the ride, my CFI and I went out and just nailed them out until I was comfortable again.

Private at 86, got divorced six months after starting, worked in Russia for a year and a half in the middle, and moved 1000 miles before the end. Started in Dec 2005, Started again after the move Dec 2007 and finished May 2008.

Instrument started June 2010, and finished March 30, 2011 +/- 50 hours for that one.

No hours yet, but as my first post on this site and as a military human factors instructor for over 20 years, I have to say you have received some meaningful replies with lots of encouragement and key points being identified. For me, the most meaningful response was to talk to your instructor. No communication in most circumstances is negative communication. An open and honest relationship with your instructor is crucial to a successful outcome and also a pleasurable experience. Everyone should feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts, ideas, questions, and concerns with their instructor. If the conversation doesn't go as expected, speak to the senior instructor or chief pilot. Maybe a new pairing with a different instructor may be in order. CONGRATS on your progress so far and keep at it!